Rashid hunched over a piece of paper, working out a difficult calculus problem. As often happened when he found a problem tedious, his mind drifted into fantasy. A tall willowy woman danced in the arms of a handsome man.
The woman contrasted with Rashid in more than just gender. Rashid had early discovered food as a way of escaping from the misery of his male body. As his weight ballooned, he attracted more taunting, which led to more eating. He now weighed 275 pounds.
Just as the woman in Rashid's fantasy pursed her lips to be kissed, his cell phone rang.
"Yo, Rashid here."
"Janie?"
Rashid froze. There was only one person who knew both his cell phone number and his secret name. "Rob?"
"Janie, this morning I got a package from TransDem. I checked it out on their website and I called their help number to see if they had really sent it. It's legitimate, and it works--I've tested it out. Janie, I want you to come over. I want us to cross the bridge together."
"This better not be a joke."
"Janie, you know this isn't something I would ever joke about."
"OK, but I need your address."
Rob gave his address, and added. "My girl name is Debra Goldweiser. If my mom answers the door, tell her you're here to work on a science problem for school."